Did Yvette Simpson's pushback on the Children's Hospital deal slam the brakes on her momentum in the Cincinnati mayor's race?

Politics Extra spent all week asking some of the area's smartest political minds how this might play out in the race between the city councilwoman and Mayor John Cranley. First, they all remain dumbfounded about why Simpson turned a rubber-stamp, easy-win deal into last-minute total chaos.

As we look ahead to the final three months of the race, here are three takeaways from PX's conversations with local political watchers about the impact of the Children's deal:

1. Simpson might have shown voters she's not ready to be mayor.

Her last-minute demand that Children's give up to another $21 million to Avondale in exchange for her support of the hospital's expansion project is the type of political and policy misstep that can undermine the electorate's confidence in her ability to lead, insiders say.

Children's asked for no public money, and it already had committed to give $11.5 million to Avondale in addition to its $550 million expansion project. The hospital held at least a half-dozen public meetings with Avondale residents over the past few years.

Simpson could've tried to broker a better deal between Children's and the neighborhood long before Monday. But she surprised Children's and others by introducing her motion, along with Councilman Wendell Young, just 48 hours before Council was to vote on the deal. And the motion at least gave the perception of a shakedown by requiring Children's to hand over another $16 million to $21 million.

It created drama, and upset an organization that pours tens of millions of dollars into the regional economy and has been a good corporate citizen. Is that how Simpson would handle other community partners and big projects if elected mayor?

2. The move made no sense politically.

This wasn't about politics, Simpson said. PX is skeptical. Maybe Simpson wanted to show she won't simply go along with rubber-stamp deals and instead take a stand for a poor neighborhood. On the surface, that seems noble. But this might not have been the best opportunity to make that statement. By most accounts, this was handled the right way by Children's and it was too far down the road after three years of talks.

Simpson already had strong support in Avondale, which went big for her in the May primary. Part of her African-American base of voters lives in the neighborhood, and she appeared in no danger of losing that support regardless of how she voted on the hospital deal. Plus, there wasn't a huge outcry in Avondale over the project. The expansion requires the hospital to buy 0.5 percent of the houses in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Simpson might have risked upsetting voters by taking on a popular organization. Children's is a point of pride for Greater Cincinnati, and it has a wide reach as the third-largest employer in the region. It has 15,000 employees and treats 1.3 million kids each year, many of them poor. That's a lot of lives touched by one organization.

3. Cranley might have been handed a gift.

Simpson had employed a keep-quiet strategy ever since her double-digit primary win, choosing to stay out of public squabbles at City Hall. It seemingly helped her keep the momentum as her campaign continued to focus on the ground game.

But Simpson's unforced error opens the door for Cranley to gain momentum. Simpson gave Cranley an opening to use this against her. Putting up a fight against one of the city's biggest development projects ever could come back to haunt Simpson.

Will Cranley's campaign pounce on Simpson pushing back on creating new jobs and helping sick children? Cranley's ground game is now a robust operation, and this gives his team something new to discuss with voters.

Simpson's pushback reminds PX of the unforced political error Cranley made in January, when he declared Cincinnati a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants. The decision made no political sense. It was a misstep that upset Cranley's Republican base.

Maybe this race will be won by the candidate who doesn't make any more big mistakes.

MICRO-SCOOPS & MORE

• Look for the Democratic Party to reconvene and consider endorsing another candidate in the Cincinnati school board race after Ericka Copeland-Dansby failed to qualify for the November ballot. The Dems endorsed four candidates in May, including first-time candidates Ryan Messer, Renee Hevia and Mike Moroski. Messer was the race's top fundraiser during the first six months of the year with $18,975. Moroski raised $13,826, and Procter & Gamble's Christine Fisher was third with $10,491. She could be in line to grab Copeland-Dansby's endorsement.

• Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval has been traveling the state campaigning for Sen. Sherrod Brown, who's up for re-election next year. Pureval did a 13-county tour of eastern and southeast Ohio earlier this month. It's helping him gain statewide exposure as the Democrats continue to have high hopes for his future. Brown has taken a liking to Pureval, who is hosting a big fundraiser for Ohio's senior senator next month. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, who's been discussed as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, is scheduled to headline the event.